Railway track cleaner



*April- 23, 1935. E. sHlELDs 1,998,851

RAILWAY TRACK CLEANER Filed sept. 2, 193s 2 sheets-sheet 1 l l 35% ,g ff /7 April 23,1935. E. sHu-:LDS 1,998,851

RAILWAY TRACK CLEANER Filed Sept. 2, 1933 2\Sheets-Sheet 2 f7.1?. A A j? ,4'

Patented Apr.' 23, 1935 i `RAILWAY TRACK CLEANER EdwardA shields, E1 Paso, frex. VAppui-,aum septemtez, 193e, serial Nolssaoie Y 1 claim. (,c`1'.1'5,20)

vThis invention relates to improvements in raili- Ythe understanding, however, that the invention way equipment and pertains particularly* toa 'is not connedto any strict conformity with the UNITED'STATES PATENT f OFFICE g i device for cleaning' trackways.

In certain sections'Y ofthe country railway lines are of necessity required to pass through areas where considerablejsand or yother loose dirt is foundand this is frequently shiftedonto the trackways" by the wind and is a source of considerable annoyancejto occupants of trains `passingoverthe tracks las a result ot the dirt and sand being drawn up-by the-suctioncreated by -the' ftrain'Y and disseminated `through the coaches. In addition considerable damage results to` certain moving-,parts of the engine andV coaches by the sand' working in between bearing surfaces and it -ishighly 'desirable rfor these reasons that the tracks be kept free of such matter.

The 'primary objectif' therefore, "of the* present` invention,l is to provide a device for cleaning away from the tracks any sand or other loose dirtjwhich is oifa 'character to be distributed through lthe 'air by the YViolent air currents crev ated vby 4trains" passing over the tracksk Anothe'rfobject of the invention 'is to vprovide a1 mechanism which is designed to be periodicallydrawn over track lines to thoroughly clear awaysand-or dirt from the track so that no matter of this character will be present to be sucked up into, themechanism of` train.s or discharged into passenger cars which may pass over the "liner f t rI he invention broadly contemplates the provision' of a wheeled structure which traverses the tracks and which carries a hood which lies in close proximity to the tracks and into which fluid under pressure, preferably steam or air, is discharged so as to stir up the dirt immediately .surrounding the track to facilitate the ready carrying oi of the same through a discharge head or nozzle by means of which the dirt may be discharged to one sideof the roadway. This carrying ori of the dirt is assisted by the injection of air or steam into the discharge nozzle so as to create a suction within the hood.v

A still further `object of the invention is to provide a device which may be employed, in addition to the manner above set forth, to remove sand or other debris from the trackway and deposit the same into a receiving carrier,l when it is not desired to deposit the material at a side of the roadway.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration'of the following detailed description taken in connection with thel accompanying drawings forming part of this specication, with pended Yclaim.

ported over and uponthe track I'.

sl'wingof the'drawings but may be changed or modied so long as such changes or lmodifications markno material departure from'the salient features of the invention expressed in the ap'- Figurar 1 is aj vertical longitudinal sectional View through the device'ernbodying 'the present invention; j ff Y Figure 2 is 'a View in top plan of the same;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the device;

Figure Liis a sectional View taken substantially upori'- the lined-4 'of Figure'ly v Figure `5 is a sectional View taken on the line 545 ofl'ligurel.` I* 'i i' Referringnow-,more'particularlytothe drawings wherein like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several Views,

the numeral I indicates vgenerally a portion 'ofa railwayv trackzupo'nwhich the device-isl shown mounted#Y The devicefembodying the invention .comprises a chassisfframe Vor truckZA mounted uponthe flanged wheels 3 by whichj it is sup- Tne @entrai portion of the' c 'hassisfz is laterauy' enlarged to receivebetweenits side rails, which are indicated by the numeral 4, the'hood body which is indicated generally by the numeral 5.

This hood' comprises'the topY wall 6 whichthrough its major portion is inclined longitudinally of the structure rand. which 'has at onefend of the structure a horizontal portion 1, the side walls 8 and the front and rear end walls `indicated respectively by the numerals 9 and II). The lower part of the hood is open as illustrated and lies in close proximity to the heads of the rails ofthe track. Y

Formed integralwith the portion 1 of the top wall of the hood is the upwardly directed outlet" portion of the nozzle so that material which Vis carried up into the nozzle will be discharged horizontally therefrom. The receiving end of the nozzle rests'upon the flange I3 and is rotatable upon the upper end of the spout so thaty the outlet end of the nozzle may be. directed laterally of the structure as well as longitudinally as it is illustrated.

Extending through the elbow portion of the nozzle l5 and directed longitudinally thereof toward the outlet end is a pipe |6 which has its outlet tip relatively close to the outlet end of the nozzle. The outer end of this pipe is connected with a control valve I8 and in operation has joined thereto a hose |9 which is in turn connected with a suitable source of compressed air or steam, for the purpose hereinafter more fully explained.

In the rear end of the hood there is disposed the downwardly and forwardly inclined baille wall 20 which at its upper edge connects with the top of the hood adjacent the back of the spout as illustrated in Figure 1. Between the lower edge of this baffle wall 20, which extends the full width of the hood between the side Walls thereof, and the forward wall 9, there is mounted a series of ejector units, each of which is indicated as' a Whole by the numeral 2|, and each of which comprises a series of outlet nozzles each of which is indicated by the numeral 22. In the structure here the center unit while the center unit hasa double Y row. of discharge nozzles each of which is directed downwardly and toward an outside unit. These units are connected at one end by a manifold pipe 23 and this has leading to it the supply pipe 24 which passes downwardly through the top of the structure and at its outer end is provided with a control Valve 25 and in addition has connected thereto a flexible supplypipe 2,6 through which compressed air or steam may be discharged from a suitable source upon the engine drawing the device o-r in any otherY suitable location.

AThe units 2| are individually controlled by valves 21 sothat any one may be cut outuof service if foundl necessary or desirable. These units 2| are disposed'in a plane in close proximity to the lower edge ofthe hood soA that airjor steam discharged frorn the nozzles will haveonly a short distance to travel before coming in contact` with the sand and dirt lying over the trackway. Y

In order to prevent the material which is disturbed from the air or steam blasts fromA escaping from beneath the hood, there are provided the curtains 28 which are joined to the lower edges of the side walls the ends wall 9 and the baflie wall 20'which are of sufficient length to pass over or drag across the ties of the track. The curtains which are connected With the walls 9 and 20 and extend transversely of the track are provided with cut out areas 29 to receive the track rails as illustrated in Figures/l and 5. p Y

From the foregoing` description it is believed that it will be obvious-that in operation the structure described will be drawn along the track and while in passage there will be injected into the pipes I6 and 24, air under pressure or steam. This air or steam escaping through the nozzles of the units 2| will lift or stir up the dirt and sand so as to raise it within the hood and the air or steam passing through the pipe I6 and escaping through the'outlet of the nozzle I5 will create a suction which will draw the raised sand and dirt upwardly yand cause it to be discharged through this nozzle. If the device is employed in a train line, the nozzle I5 .will be'turned to discharge to a side of the track. yHowever, if sand is being removed from the track and it is not desired vto rdischarge the same at a side of the trackway, the cleaning device may be drawn over the track with a flat or `open carrfollowingl and the nozzle I5 will then bey directed longitudinally to the rear so that the sand picked up will be discharged into the following car.v jv

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed isz- An ambulatory structure of the character described, comprising a housing having a .forward and a'rear end, and having an open under side, supporting means for'said housing facilitating the `movement of the same, an upwardly opening outlet at the top of said housing in close proximity to the rear end, apartition Wall extending downwardly and forwardly within the housing from a point at the rear side of the outletvopening to the bottom edge of the open-under side of the housing, the lower edge of said partition extending a substantial ldistance forwardly beyond the outlet opening, a plurality of pipes extending in spaced relation transversely of the housing adjacent the open under side and between the lower edge of said partition and the front end of the housing, means for conducting air or steam under pressure to saidpipes, a. plurality of nozzles carried by the pipes, the nozzles of one pipe being arranged in downwardly convergent relation with the nozzles ofv an Vadjacent pipe, and a discharge nozzle EDWARD sHIELDs. 

